Quinnipiac poll: Support from women gives Murphy an edge

Ken Dixon

Updated 10:52 pm, Wednesday, October 24, 2012

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In the presidential race, President Barack Obama is up 55-41 percent over Mitt Romney in the state, compared to 54-42 percent on Oct. 4.
The Quinnipiac University Poll surveyed 1,412 likely voters between Oct. 9 and 22 and has a margin of error of 2.6 points.

With less than two weeks before the election, Murphy has a 49-to-43 percent edge, the poll found, with respondents citing the Democrat's understanding of the economy and vows to help the middle class as key reasons for their support.

McMahon's campaign downplayed the findings, saying that other polls have the race in a virtual tie.

Women now support Murphy over McMahon by 52-38 percent and voters over 55 years of age back him 51-42 percent, the poll said. In Quinnipiac's Oct. 4 poll, women said they'd vote for Murphy by 50-44 percent, while voters aged 55 and above were evenly split.

"It's deja vu all over again in Connecticut Senate race," Schwartz said. "As we hit the final stretch of the campaign, Linda McMahon is beginning to fade. Has she hit her ceiling? She took 43 percent of the vote in 2010, losing by 12 points to Blumenthal. Two weeks before the election, she is back to 43 percent."

Ben Marter, Murphy's campaign spokesman, said the momentum in the race shifted after the campaign's four debates. "Chris Murphy has continued to strengthen his lead by focusing on the issues that matter to Connecticut's middle class," Marter said, "and working families across the state are rejecting McMahon's lies, smears, and right-wing policies just like they did two years ago."

Quinnipiac's Oct. 4 survey of likely state voters had Murphy with a 48-to-47 percent lead, a statistical tie, while an August report showed McMahon with a lead just beyond the margin of error.

The wild cards in today's poll, however, are the 11 percent of Murphy supporters and 14 percent of McMahon's supporters who say they could still change their minds by Nov. 6.

Murphy's negatives have gone down and McMahon's have gone up over the last three weeks, Schwartz said.

"One of McMahon's key strengths had been that voters liked her more than Murphy," he said. "After improving her image from two years ago, her favorability rating has fallen back to about where she was in 2010."

"Yesterday two respected national polling firms, Rasmussen and Mason-Dixon, showed the Connecticut Senate race is a dead heat," Bliss said. "We know that Linda's message is resonating with voters across Connecticut. We have the momentum and energy behind our campaign to win."